-Bellagio Hotel Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada-
-March 29, 2005, 2315h local-
"Who?"
Happy stopped and looked at Naruto incredulously. Naruto kept walking for a couple of steps until he realized his companion stopped. He looked back and saw Happy's expression.
"What?" Naruto asked.
"You don't know who Tony Stark is?" Happy asked to be sure.
"No, not really. Should I?"
Happy smiled brightly, hearing the answer. He finally could pull a prank and could take Tony's ego down a peg or two. Pepper would definitely love this.
"No, not really. Just remember that when you get in." Naruto nodded his head slowly, not really knowing what he meant.
"What can I expect in there?"
"You have two CEO and Two sports superstar in there. You might know the last two. Just don't let them intimidate you, and you'll be fine..." Happy advised. "Here we are. Just follow my lead, kid."
"I'm not a kid." Naruto countered with a pout.
Happy just swiped his card on the electronic lock and went in with Naruto following close behind. Naruto was awestruck at how fancy the room is. It's a whole lot more intricate than a lot of Daimyo's Palace he has seen. Although it's a little much for his taste, he can't deny the allure of living in a place like this. He's so distracted looking around he didn't see Happy walk his way down the hall.
Happy continued his way to the living room without seeing if Naruto was behind him and saw Tony and the other players still taking a break from their latest game. The two athletes are sitting on the couch while Tony and his friend are talking on the balcony.
"So how's the rebuild going? You guys got wrecked this season." Floyd Mayweather asked his fellow athlete Kobe Bryant.
"Not great, really. The front office is making some moves, but I doubt it will amount to something anytime soon..." Kobe replied. Kobe looked towards the balcony. "Do you think the two over there would stop talking all about that techno shit?" Kobe asked, referring to Stark and Musk talking something about a new battery configuration for Musk's Tesla.
"I don't know. I guess we have to wait for the kid to get up here. Sometimes Tony's too spontaneous. Who would want to play a poker shark."
Happy decided to interject at that moment and shouted.
"Guys, I found the kid."
Tony looked inside when he heard Happy's voice. He walked up to him and looked behind him.
"So, where's the kid? Don't tell me you lost him already?" Tony asked, sarcastically seeing there's no one else there.
Happy looked around, searching for Naruto. Seeing this, Tony asked again.
"Happy. Don't tell me you really lost the kid." Tony said, losing his sarcasm. His nervousness is seeping through.
"He was just right behind me..." Happy said while looking behind him. "I'll check back at the receiving room.
Happy walked back to the front door and saw Naruto still looking around the reception area.
"I thought I told you to follow behind me." Happy said to Naruto while giving him a hard stare.
"Well, sorry! I just had to look around." Naruto defended himself. Happy just sighed and said,
"Come on. I'll introduce you. Just stay close to me, okay."
Happy and Naruto walked back to the living room and saw the guys preparing for another round of poker. Everyone looked to see who Happy brought and looked a little surprised. They saw the kid is not exactly what they thought.
He's tall, around 6'2. He looked like he could pass as an NBA guard. Got a muscular build too. Certainly looked like an athlete. He got blonde hair and blue eyes, but his face doesn't exactly look caucasian. Maybe Asian American.
Seeing the lack of awe and adoration that usually would show on a young man's face when he meets all of them, Tony finally asked,
"So, who are you, kid?"
Naruto looked at Tony. After a few tense moments, with Tony waiting for that spark recognition, Naruto finally said.
"Shouldn't you be introducing yourself first? And I'm not a kid."
Everyone in the room laughed hard. Sure Kobe's and Floyd's egos are legendary, but it had nothing on Tony Stark. He lives to see his name everywhere. Someone not knowing about him is sacrilegious.
Tony just gaped at the new guest. He never thought he would meet someone who didn't know him in the USA, especially in his lifetime.
"I'm Tony Stark. Billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist. CEO of Stark Industries. That Tony Stark." Tony introduced himself, hoping to himself that the kid would recognize him.
"Cool! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! The greatest nin-uhhh, I mean fighter around!" Naruto introduced himself. Still not recognizing the younger Stark.
Tony groaned, giving up on the prospect of the kid recognizing him. He walked back to the poker table, sat down, and sulked. The rest of the poker players introduced themselves.
"Hey. Sorry about that. He's a little vain. But don't worry, he's a good guy..." The guy in a polo short defended Tony Stark. "I'm Elon Musk. An engineer like Tony there."
A tall, bald, African-American man introduced himself next. "I'm Kobe Bryant. Basketball player. Played any basketball before?"
"No, I can't say I have. Never even heard of it." Naruto answered in a straight face.
"You never heard of it! Oh, hell no! I'm going to have to teach you about it sometime." Kobe finally said.
"Forget about him. You do look like a fighter. You should do some boxing. I'm Floyd Mayweather, by the way." The shorter African American guy introduced himself.
"Ooh. Boxing? I read about that one, but I never saw one use it before. What's it like?" Naruto asked enthusiastically, finally learning something about his interest.
"Well, it's about using quick and strong punches to bring down the opponent while using fast and precise footwork to dodge your opponent." Floyd explained.
"What about kicks, elbows, and knee strikes?"
"Well, we don't use it."
"Hey! I fought someone who used that. He didn't last long."
"You have more experience than I thought. What's the guy's name, maybe I heard of him?" Floyd asked conversationally.
"Just some huge guy named Mike Lucas." Naruto said while waving his hand dismissively.
Floyd immediately widened his eyes. Mike Lucas used to be a professional boxer who started the same time as him. He's on his way to superstar stardom until he was caught using performance-enhancing drugs. He was banned from professional boxing ever since.
"Holy shit! You must be good. Where did you fight him?"
Everyone in the room is tuned into the conversation. They all heard of Mike "The Flash" Lucas. Hearing some guy fought him and won, even if not on his prime, is extraordinary.
"Well, there was this underground fighting tournament somewhere north of the city. Won me some serious cash." Naruto said proudly.
"You fought in an underground fight?" Kobe asked for confirmation.
"Yup, lost my luggage and most my money when I got here. So I joined to win some cash. The whole thing is a little boring, though."
Silence dominated the room hearing their guest's story. Tony, being the impatient one, finally broke the ice,
"Are we going to play or not?"
This snapped the people in the room, and they filed toward the poker table. The table. in the room is similar to the one in the Poker Room, only more expensive. They sat down with Elon on the left side of the table, followed by Tony, Floyd, Kobe, then finally Naruto.
Tony saw Naruto swinging backpack forward. This reminded him of what he said to Happy.
"You need someone to prop you up? This table has a hundred million dollar buy-in.
Naruto flopped his backpack on the table and looked at Tony.
"No need. I got this..." Naruto said with a grin and tipped over his bag. Almost a hundred pieces of chips in different dominations spilled onto the table. "That should cover it."
For another time during the night, they were dumbstruck. The amount he spilled on the table is closer to 200 than to 100 million.
"How much did you start with?" Floyd asked.
"$250000. Worked my way up to the en million-dollar tables."
"Holy shit, we're fucked." Elon said, perfectly encapsulating their current position.
Naruto only gave them a bigger grin and said,
"Well, Let's play some poker."
-Kamar taj, Kathmandu, Nepal.
-March 30, 2005, 1200h local-
The Hidden Temple of Kamar taj is a school created by the world's first sorcerer, Agamotto.
Agamotto was a powerful man who used the mysteries of the mystic arts to defend the world against enemies the world is not prepared to face.
One of the most powerful enemies he ever faced is Dormmamu, an interdimensional demon hell-bent on acquiring planets for his personal dimension; The Dark Dimension. There was no chance for Agamotto to win against the demon if not for a powerful item; he forged using one of the most powerful objects in the universe. He named it the Eye of Agamotto. It's capable of bending time to the will of the user. He used it to push back Dormmamu to the Dark Dimension.
To prevent Dormmamu of ever conquering the planet, he created the three sanctums as mystical shields against extra-dimensional beings to protect the world against mystical attacks from other dimensions and alongside it, the temple of Kamar taj, tasked with training sorcerers. These sorcerers are soldiers trained in harnessing the mystical energies from other dimensions and use it to protect the world.
Agamotto named himself as the Sorcerer Supreme and helped create a new generation of sorcerers. Before he died, he named another the title of Sorcerer Supreme to one of his students and passed down with it the Eye of Agamotto. This has continued for thousands of years until an unprecedented event happened.
A Sorcerer Supreme saw a different future. The next adequate Sorcerer Supreme after her is not to be born for almost a thousand years in the future. Seeing no alternate solution, she harnessed the dark energy from the dark dimension to extend her lifespan.
She had lived for so long that everyone called her the Ancient One. She had guided dozens of generations of new sorcerers, preparing them for what's to come.
The Ancient One new her time is coming, and she had already accepted it. Nevertheless, she religiously looks into the future using the Eye of Agamotto.
She was prepared to see the same future, confirming what she already knew. What she didn't expect is the sudden change in the visions of the future mid-session. She can't clearly see who or what caused the change, only its effects. The only glimpsed she found is a yellow fox. It's like an invincible mountain was dropped on top of the river of time, effectively changing critical events in the future—one of those events, her death
She can finally see the events of what is to come after her death, and for the first time in a very long time, she felt fear. She saw the end of over half of the life in the universe.
The Ancient One snapped out of her meditation and took a deep breath. She took her time to choose her next path. Either she does nothing and let destiny take its course, or she does something now and change what is to come for better or for worse.
Finally deciding on her choice, she walked calmly out of her room and faced her attendant for the day and said,
"Call everyone available to the central grounds in an hour. I'll inform everyone of some of the changes that would happen. And bring me Kaecillus, Mordo, and Pangborn."
The attendant looked stunned for a moment. The Ancient One never called such a large meeting. Only meetings with individuals or at most small groups. He stood there for some time until snapping out of it when he saw the Ancient One walking back to her room. The attendant ran through the corridor, remembering the Ancient One's orders.
Back in her room, The Ancient One was contemplating the decision she had made. Seeing that she would not be able to reverse destiny's path to what it was before, she comforted herself with her decision.
"Change has come." The Ancient One could be heard saying this in her empty room.